The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to path planning systems, and more particularly to planning of coordinated efforts between a mobile control system and an unmanned aerial vehicle.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can be used in a variety of missions to perform scouting and reconnaissance operations in potentially hostile environments. A UAV can be remotely controlled by a fixed-location control station requesting a particular flight path as a path plan which can include a number of waypoints that define location and timing constraints. Commands may be relayed to the UAV as high-level instructions, such as maintaining 500-meter loiter flight pattern about a designated location. Onboard navigation and control computers on the UAV convert a high-level path plan into a more detailed plan to drive control and propulsion systems of the UAV such that location and timing constraints of the waypoints can be met. UAVs typically include a number of perception sensors that may capture video data, terrain data, and other local environment data. A live data feed from the perception sensors typically involves a high-bandwidth link that may be range limited. In one example, a high-bandwidth link is implemented using a line-of-sight communication system. Line-of-sight based communications may also be used to minimize the risk of signal interception by a potentially hostile party.
When another vehicle, such as a helicopter, desires to take control of an airborne UAV to observe perception sensor data and/or modify the planned path of the UAV, the control handover process from the fixed-location control station to the vehicle can be constrained by the relative positions of the vehicle and the UAV. Where communication between the vehicle and UAV is constrained by distance or line-of-sight, the ability of the vehicle to establish contact with the UAV is limited until the vehicle is within range of the UAV. Efficiently reaching an in-range condition can be challenging when the vehicle and the UAV are both in motion.